Benjamin Harold Zeitlin (; born October 14, 1982) is an American filmmaker, best known for directing and co-writing the 2012 film ''

Beasts of the Southern Wild ''Beasts of the Southern Wild'' is a 2012 American fantasy-drama film directed, co-written, and co-scored by Benh Zeitlin. It was adapted by Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar from Alibar's one-act play ''Juicy and Delicious''. The film stars Quvenzhan� ...

'', for which he received two

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

nominations.

Early life

Zeitlin was born in Manhattan and raised in

Sunnyside, Queens Sunnyside is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Queens. It shares borders with Hunters Point, Queens, Hunters Point and Long Island City to the west, Astoria, Queens, Astoria to the no ...

, New York, and in suburban

Hastings-on-Hudson Hastings-on-Hudson is a village in Westchester County located in the southwestern part of the town of Greenburgh in the state of New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately north of midtown Manhattan, and i ...

, NY. He is a graduate of Hastings High School and

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

. He was born to writers and

folklorists Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

Mary Amanda Dargan and Steven Joel Zeitlin, who founded the NYC non-profit cultural organization

City Lore City Lore: the New York Center for Urban Culture was founded in 1986 and was the first organization in the United States devoted expressly to the "documentation, preservation, and presentation of urban folk culture." Their mission is to produce pr ...

. His father, who is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, spent most of his childhood in Brazil; his mother comes from a rural,

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

background in

Darlington, South Carolina Darlington is a city located in Darlington County, South Carolina, United States. In 2010, its population was 6,289. It is the county seat of Darlington County. It is part of the Florence, South Carolina metropolitan area. Darlington is known f ...

. His younger sister is screenwriter and artist Eliza Zeitlin.

Career

In 2004, Zeitlin co-founded the Court 13 independent collection of filmmakers, named after a neglected Wesleyan University squash court that he and his friends had once commandeered as a filming location. His younger sister Eliza Zeitlin and he moved to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

while he was making his first short film, ''Glory at Sea'', in 2008. In 2012, Zeitlin's first feature, ''

,'' adapted from a play entitled ''Juicy and Delicious'' by

Lucy Alibar Lucy Alibar (born Lucy Harrison, 1983) is an American screenwriter and playwright best known for co-writing the 2012 film ''Beasts of the Southern Wild'' with Benh Zeitlin. Early life Lucy Alibar was raised near Monticello, Florida; her parents ...

, won the

Caméra d'Or The Caméra d'Or ("''Golden Camera''") is an award of the Cannes Film Festival for the best first feature film presented in one of the Cannes selections (Official Selection, Directors' Fortnight or Critics' Week). The prize was created in 1978 Ca ...

award at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

, the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

, and the Grand Jury Prize at the

2012 Deauville American Film Festival The 38th Deauville American Film Festival took place at Deauville, France from August 31 to September 9, 2012. Jeff Nichols's drama film ''Mud (2012 film), Mud'' served as the opening night film. ''Savages (2012 film), Savages'' by Oliver Stone wa ...

. The film went on to earn the

Los Angeles Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episodi ...

's Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature and the

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is a film festival held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States, since 1976. It usually takes place in late May and/or early June. It is one of the largest festivals in the world, and feature ...

's Golden

Space Needle The Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington, United States. Considered to be an icon of the city, it has been designated a List of Seattle landmarks, Seattle landmark. Located in the Lower Queen Anne, Seattle, Lower Queen An ...

Award for Best Director. Zeitlin was also given a Humanitarian Award for his work on the film at the Satellite Awards 2012. Notably, Zeitlin both directed ''Beasts of the Southern Wild'' and co-composed the score. For his directorial work and screenplay in ''Beasts of the Southern Wild'', Zeitlin collected several additional awards and nominations. At the

Gotham Independent Film Awards The Gotham Awards () are American film awards, presented annually to the makers of independent films at a ceremony in New York City, the city first nicknamed "Gotham" by native son Washington Irving, in an issue of ''Salmagundi'', published on ...

in 2012, he won the Breakthrough Director Award. At the same awards ceremony, Zeitlin received the inaugural Bingham Ray Award, which honors the independent filmmaker who died in 2012. Zeitlin also won a

Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an American award for film and television writing, presented to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful manner. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of ...

(as co-writer/director; shared with Alibar as co-writer), amongst other awards. He has also received two nominations at the

85th Academy Awards The 85th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2012 and took place on February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p ...

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * As ...

and Best Adapted Screenplay (shared with

), and the film itself was nominated for

Best Picture The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...

. In 2019, it was revealed that Zeitlin was directing his next feature ''

Wendy Wendy is a given name generally given to girls in English-speaking countries. In Britain during the English Civil War in the mid-1600s, a male Captain Wendy Oxford was identified by the Leveller John Lilburne as a spy reporting on his activit ...

'' in Montserrat, an island south of

Antigua Antigua ( ; ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the local population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua ...

. Inspired by ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

'', Zeitlin described the film as "a friendship-love story-adventure of her and a joyous, reckless, pleasure-mongering young boy as they swirl in and out of youth and as the ecosystem around them spirals toward destruction."

Filmography

Short film * ''Egg'' (2005) * ''Origins of Electricity'' (2006) * ''Glory at Sea'' (2008) Feature film * ''

'' (2012) * ''

'' (2020)

Awards

Zeitlin was the 2012 recipient of '' Smithsonian'' magazine's American Ingenuity Award in the Visual Arts category.

References

External links